‘Why are you here today?’ was the Head of English’s opening gambit at my first university lecture. Most of the two hundred eighteen year olds sat bemused, not knowing how to respond. Would someone do an interpretative dance perhaps?

Someone eventually put up their hand and said, ‘I like books’. Another, ‘I’m not very good at English, but I try’. Sniggers from the audience. But the question stuck with me: what is university actually for?

I have long been of the opinion that university is for learning and reading: never again will one have so much time to devour books without interruption. But for some, university is a jolly holiday from the real world – another way of putting off the inevitable descent into the monotony of working life.

My university in London was chosen for its career-enabling location – I saw no use in studying somewhere that left me with no world experience, however good the syllabus. It has a careers office, but I’ve never been. On closer inspection of their website, jobs and internships are advertised, practice interviews can be booked, and appointments made.

But this is not a reality for my peers: none of my friends have ever been to visit – we are not actively encouraged to. Careers meetings seem terribly reminiscent of year 10 PSHE, a memory I’m sure we’d all like to forget. But at this crucial point in higher education, isn’t it time for these memories to resurface?

Since the summer of 2011 when I schlepped to London for an internship, I have trawled through the unpaid work ranks of newspapers and magazines, finally finding this summer, that people want to pay me to do things.

But that’s about hard graft: passing up a social life and working twelve hour days and over the weekend to impress the boss, which hopefully might lead to a recommendation for another internship, that might lead to a job.

Such is the reality of my degree course, with no opportunities for placements or interaction with an industry outside academia.

Conversely, my housemate is on placement with a large company as part of her Maths degree. Her university’s excellent placement provision means that her whole friendship group are out of town – from London to Uruguay and Philadelphia – learning how to be adults.

This is an excellent display of what a good university can do in a partnership. She will graduate a year later than me, but will walk into a graduate scheme, earning £25k and rising.

It seems clear that collaborative efforts are missing from the process. More universities should partner with businesses to provide keen undergraduates with work placement opportunities – because we do want to work, for the most part. If this happened, perhaps there might be less ‘surly’ graduates.

To be at university now, is a little depressing: the job market is bleak, so it’s no wonder so many students want to continue education. But if we all take some responsibility and do our part: universities, students and businesses, it might seem a little rosier.

At a friend’s university, careers fairs are commonplace. If you can be bothered to go, they can provide you with opportunities, she told me; which I suspect is the case for many others. To quote Badfinger lyrics: if you want it, here it is, come and get it. Current students and graduates need to adopt this mentality.